INFORMATION IN ENGLISH FOR TEACHING ASSISTANTS AND PROFESSORS
Climate change, COVID19, and the start of a new war by a superpower are leading to an increase in the interest of young people in global issues. The NU Mirai Education Project provides high school students in the Tokai area with a series of lectures and workshops given in English. These are followed by an opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of a professor at Nagoya University, and then present their results to high school students during a visit overseas. The aim of the project is to train students who are independent thinkers, can take action, and whom will someday play leading roles in tackling global issues.
Schedule
Stage1LECTURE SERIES (July)
Two lectures in English and 2 in Japanese will be given by professors from Nagoya University over 4 days in July. The talks will deal with a certain aspect of a global issue. After a Q&A session in the corresponding language, the students will be given an hour to submit a short essay in Japanese as an assignment related to the lecture. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in giving a lecture in either English or Japanese to an audience of about 100 local high school students. Grading of the essays will be done by teaching assistants.
Stage2WORKSHOP SERIES (August to October)
A series of single day-workshops will be held 6 times, with some teaching methods useful for problem-solving, and others taking-up global issues. Each workshop starts with a lecture in English, following by some exercises designed to deepen understanding of the lecture. The students will be given an assignment and work in teams of 4 to give a presentation in English at the end of the day as an answer to the assignment. Students are graded by their work skills, their contribution to the efforts of the team, and by their team’s presentations. In addition to the 6 workshops, a “presentation day” will be held on which each team will be allowed to given a presentation in English on a global issue or social problem of their choice. We will also hold a two-day empowerment workshop in which students will experience a series of exercises designed to enhance self-esteem and encourage independent thinking. An international program student from our university will be assigned to each team as a teaching assistant, to encourage the team and supervise their work. If you are interested in being hired as a teaching assistant, please feel free to contact us. If you are a professor interested in teaching a one-day workshop on problem-solving or social issues also feel free to contact us.
Stage3RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (Late October to March)
Students in teams of 3 or 4 will be assigned to professors at Nagoya University whom work in fields of research that are related to global issues or social problems. Together, they will decide on a research topic that interests the students and that will take advantage of research methods that the professor specializes in. In addition to doing the research each team will be encouraged to undertake some kind of social action. Each team will prepare a presentation in English on their research and activities. If the situation in the world at that time permits, the students will travel to Freiburg, Germany which is known of as one of the most progressive eco-cities in Europe and will learn about how it became to be the way it is and also give presentations on their research to local high school students. An international program student from our university will be assigned to each team as a teaching assistant, to encourage the team and assist them in preparing their presentations in English. If you are interested in being hired as a teaching assistant please feel free to contact us. If you are a professor interested in supervising a team of students in using your research methods also feel free to contact us.